CKSci Unit 6: Earth’s Resources and Human Impact
Focus:
In this unit, students investigate the phenomena of changes that data suggest may be occurring in the earth’s systems. The subtitle of this unit is How do changes in the Earth’s system impact our communities, and what can we do about it? Students are familiar with news reports that discuss a possible increase in floods and droughts, increased warming of the atmosphere, sea-level rising, and greenhouse gases. Is there a scientific basis for concerns, and if so, what does this data tell us about changes in Earth’s systems? Students will analyze data and develop new questions as they come to an understanding of the nature of atmospheric shifts. Then students decide what they might do to protect their communities from any possibly harmful changes in the future. This unit allows students to spend time working with classmates to analyze their shared experience, formulate new questions, and develop new strategies for answering them. Students explore concepts that include the following:
- Why are floods and droughts happening more often?
- How would increase temperatures affect evaporation?
- Are there any changes in the air that could be related to rising temperatures?
- Are changes in the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere part of the normal cycles that Earth goes through?
- Why is solving the climate change problem so challenging?
As students move through their day-to-day activities, they will also read Core Knowledge literacy selections. These include factual articles, history of the sciences, art and literature, spotting bad science in the media and advertisements, graphics comprehension, research-type articles, reliability of sources, and other areas of science literacy.
Number of Lessons:
- Teacher Guide: 18 Lessons
- Student Reader: 4 Collections
Instruction Time (Student Reader):
- Lessons are designed to be completed in one or more class periods.
- A Pacing Guide found in Online Resources offers a suggested time to complete the entire unit if class is held each day.
- The entire unit should take about 33 days to complete if class is held each day.
- A complete list of Materials needed to complete the unit is provided in Online Resources.
Additional Search Terms:
science literacy • climate change • sea-level rise • skepticism • climate event • greenhouse gas • methane • carbon dioxide • global warming • emissions • fossil fuel • acidification • climate refugee • carbon footprint • greenwashing • nonfiction • informational text
